Earlier this week, New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells posted a scathing review of Guy Fieri’s new restaurant in Times Square, Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar. Wells’ critique, made up of 49 snarky questions and a couple of digs at Fieri on a more personal level, quickly went viral.
A bad review is a bad review, and any negative feedback should be looked upon with an open, teachable mind. But I think it’s safe to say that most who have worked in the restaurant industry have had to deal with this person at least once in their career . . . the one less interested in giving constructive criticism and more interested in taking swipes at those who serve him for sport and spectacle.
One commenter on Wells’ review summed it up nicely in two sentences, “This is not a review. It is an interrogation.”
Oddly enough, the New York Times ad sales department hosted an event for approximately 160 people at the restaurant the same day that Wells’ review was printed. The Times initially stated that they were “not aware” of the event, but later confirmed that it did occur. It would be interesting to read the opinions of those who were in attendance that evening. [The Braiser]
In an interview with TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie, Fieri said that the review had given him some things to think about, as it should, but that the review was also “overboard” and that Wells “came in with a different agenda.”
Read the review. Catch the video below. Who do you think is really outta bounds in Flavortown?
